Chapter 1
The Things that Can't be Seen is the first chapter of the Iris Zero series. Summary In a world where the majority of children are born with Iris, the ability to see "things", the Iris Zeros, those not born with such abilities, are discriminated and bullied. One of which is Toru Mizushima who manage to avoid making enemies by his policy, Minimal Exposure. However, his policy is broken when he was approached by Koyuki Sasamori who asks him to go out with her, drawing the attention of the entire class. Toru manage to escape the class without being confronted with Koyuki following him. While sitting on a bench on the school yards, Koyuki asks Toru if he is willing to go out with her and search for the next student body president, explaining that due to her iris which allows her to "see who are qualified", she has been picked by the staff to pick the officials. However, she failed to find the right person and went to find the one who can help her, which happens to be Toru. However, before he can answer, a flower pot suddenly falls towards them. Toru manages to grab Koyuki and pull her out of the way. He then leaves after revealing to her that he has no Iris. The next day, Toru is greeted by Hijiri Shinozuka, his closest friend. As the two walk to school, talking about Koyuki confessing to Toru, Koyuki appears and greets Toru, who explains to him that she is looking for the qualified student. Toru wishes her luck and leaves, wanting to avoid the muttering about him. While entering the school, Hijiri notes that Koyuki was the first one to treat him normally despite knowing him to be an Iris Zero. Noticing that Koyuki still greets him cheerfully over the following days, Toru decides to confront her. Toru explains to her that he stands out every time she talks to him, and standing up for an Iris Zero causes them to get beaten. Koyuki apologizes for causing him trouble and assures him that it will be the last day of her bothering him, since she's already at her limit and will be reporting that she failed to find one the next day. Koyuki then leaves, saying that she's kind of jealous of hims since he can see the world without a filter. The next day, the meeting to elect the next student council president commences. Although, Hijiri thinks of it as not really an election since they merely perform the appointment ceremony on the person Koyuki deems qualified. Harumi Tokita asks Koyuki to tell them who is qualified but Koyuki informs them that she failed to find one. Harumi asks her if she merely couldn't see anything, implying that she herself is an Iris Zero since her Iris seemed made up. As everyone begins to suspect Koyuki as an Iris Zero, Toru enters the room, with a flower sprouting on top of his head, silencing the audience. Koyuki questions him about the flower on his head and Toru tells her that he was unaware of it since he can't see the top of his head. Hearing Toru's words and knowing that Koyuki's Iris only allows her to see an "O" or "X" on top of the person's head, the audience deduces that Koyuki is the one qualified to be the student council president, leaving Koyuki astonished that Toru broke his policy to help her. After that, Koyuki is elected as the student council president and she continues to be friendly with Toru, who hopes to return to his usual minimal exposure. Characters In Order of Appearance #Toru Mizushima #Asahi Yuki #Koyuki Sasamori #Hijiri Shinozuka #Harumi Tokita